SAN JOSE, CA—January 4, 2024—Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) honors Tombigbee Fiber, LLC as a “Giant of Community” 2023 Calix Innovations Award winner. Utilizing the Calix broadband platform and integrated managed services, Tombigbee delivers community-wide Wi-Fi to connect their customers, students, educators, football fans, and first responders when they need it most. They also safeguard families with digital monitoring tools to help prevent the tragedies of unchecked cyberbullying and other digital dangers. Tombigbee’s strategy of prioritizing community needs helped grow their business by establishing them as a trusted local technology leader—as proven by their exceptional +91 Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS®).

 

Tombigbee Fiber was founded in 2019 by the Tombigbee Electric Power Association (TEPA), a member-owned cooperative. Leveraging Calix platform’s efficiencies from the start, they connected thousands of households across north Mississippi with a major fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) initiative. By their second year, Tombigbee achieved cash-flow positivity, and in three years, they reached substantial profitability.

In 2023, Tombigbee utilized their investment in the Calix platform to expand their service offerings with managed services, boosting home Wi-Fi to city-level quality and expanding into sectors like recreation, community, and government. The Calix platform and integrated managed services have helped Tombigbee elevate the standard of broadband experiences in northern Mississippi by enabling them to:

• Safeguard families from unchecked digital dangers like cyberbullying. Tombigbee offers ProtectIQ® (home network security) and ExperienceIQ® (advanced home network controls) to every customer at no extra cost. This year, they rolled out Bark text and social media monitoring to help families combat online threats like cyberbullying and child predation. Bark functions at the device level, so it remains active even when children leave home. As a further commitment to safety, Tombigbee provides Bark to all of their employees.
• Offer secure community broadband experiences all around town. Tombigbee launched SmartTown community-wide Wi-Fi in June 2023 with an event in Mantachie and has since expanded to 13 other towns. Before the new school year, the community-focused broadband service provider (BSP) launched SmartTown “Friday Night Fiber” in Itawamba, Lee, and Pontotoc counties to connect nine high school football fields—the center of community engagement in small towns—with plans to expand into other sports programs.
• Prioritize broadband access that supports local community safety. In addition to connecting beloved community spaces in northern Mississippi, Tombigbee has also ensured that first responders in the communities they serve can access community-wide Wi-Fi at no cost whenever they need it.

“Our collaboration with Calix has been a game-changer,” said Scott Hendrix, chief executive officer of Tombigbee Fiber and Tombigbee Electric Power Association. “It’s enabled us to operate with remarkable efficiency, freeing up resources to invest back into our community. We’re committed to providing essential services that enhance the lives of our members and the wider community, often at little or no cost. By leveraging the Calix platform, we’ve introduced crucial managed services like SmartTown for broad Wi-Fi access and Bark for online safety. These aren’t just services; they’re vital steps towards enriching and securing our community’s future. Our partnership with Calix isn’t just about business growth; it’s about forging a better, more connected future for everyone we serve.”

“The success of Scott Hendrix and the Tombigbee team proves that broadband providers don’t have to be large, legacy players to deliver incredible value for their communities,” said Matt Collins, chief commercial operations officer at Calix. “They just need what Tombigbee has—the right innovation, the right partner, and an unwavering commitment to do good for the people they serve. Not only is Tombigbee transforming Mississippi communities by providing incredible managed services at minimal cost, connecting entire towns, and empowering parents to stop cyberbullying, but they are also running the most operationally efficient business possible, rapidly achieving profitability in just two years. Calix is proud to support Tombigbee as they continue to make a positive difference for their communities.”

Learn more about how Tombigbee Fiber is transforming their communities with world-class subscriber experiences by reading “Improving on Perfection: How Tombigbee Is Taking Its NPS to New Heights.”

About Calix
Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)—Broadband service providers of all sizes leverage the Calix platform and teams to simplify their business and excite their subscribers to grow the value of their business and for their communities for generations. The democratizing power of the platform and portfolio of managed services enables them to operate efficiently, acquire subscribers, and deliver exceptional experiences. Calix is dedicated to driving continuous improvement in partnership with our growing ecosystem to support the transformation of our customers and their communities.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calix’s business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix’s results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov.

Calix and the Calix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Calix and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Calix’s trademarks can be found at https://www.calix.com/pages/trademarks.html. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Net Promoter®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score℠ and Net Promoter System℠ are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.

Press Inquiries:
Alison Crisci
919-353-4323
alison.crisci@calix.com

Investor Inquiries:
Jim Fanucchi
investorrelations@calix.com

AUBURN HILLS, MI & SAN JOSE, CA—September 22, 2023—Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALIX) today affirmed its commitment to “Build America, Buy America” (BABA) for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program during a special event held at a manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, operated by Jabil Inc (NYSE: JBL). This commitment includes expanding a manufacturing services agreement with Jabil at its Michigan facility. Calix was joined by government leaders United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson and Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist.

Calix was founded in the United States (US) 24 years ago with an exclusive focus on enabling rural broadband service providers (BSPs). Over the past 12 years, Calix has invested $1.2 billion to build the only end-to-end software and cloud broadband platform, further establishing the company as the leading technology partner to rural BSPs across the US. Calix has more than 1,300 active US customers and nearly 100 percent serve rural markets, where they are leading the way to close the digital divide. The decision to move manufacturing to the US will ensure that Calix customers can leverage the BEAD program to meet this objective—and it will create new, high-value manufacturing jobs nationwide by building on decades of US-led innovation across Calix Cloud®, software, and systems.

“We founded Calix 24 years ago in the US by focusing on and partnering with US rural broadband providers as they innovated to close the digital divide,” said Calix Chairman Carl Russo. “Cooperatives, tribal and community-owned, family and community run, and private equity-backed local broadband providers are the lifeblood of rural America, and we appreciate the opportunity to partner with federal and state leaders on broadband programs that help them expand the great work that they do every day. In doing so, they have created tremendous value for underserved communities across the US as our America-led software and cloud innovation in broadband has enabled even the smallest BSP to thrive and provide the essential broadband services that enable economic growth, education, health, and safety. Calix, our customers, and our partners are tremendously thankful to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Commerce Department for their leadership in ensuring that we can deliver world-class broadband and life-enhancing managed services to every citizen and local business. More importantly, they are doing it through a program that will help us meet this objective through Calix America-led software and cloud innovation while contributing to America’s manufacturing renaissance.”

With an initial investment from Calix of $4 million to $6 million and an ongoing spend for operations of $10 million to $15 million per year, Calix manufacturing solutions providers will hire workers in manufacturing, operations, engineering, quality assurance, and administrative roles as they ramp US production of Calix optical solutions—a first step in the company’s BABA initiative. The ongoing collaboration with these manufacturers will create more than 100 American jobs, with additional jobs planned as Calix customers participate in the BEAD program over the next five to 10 years.

“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and commitment to ‘Made in America’ is driving a resurgence in manufacturing across the country,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Today’s announcement is more evidence that we can close the digital divide and connect everyone in America to high-speed internet networks built by American workers with American-made equipment.”

“The ‘Internet for All’ initiative is not just a connectivity program; it’s a jobs program—for the people who build the networks and for the people who make the equipment those networks need,” said US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “If network equipment can be made in America, it should be made in America. Companies like Calix are stepping up and answering that call.”

Today, Calix employs over 1,000 professionals in the US who design, develop, market, sell, and service its end-to-end broadband platform and managed services. Calix will add to its US operations by expanding its hardware manufacturing relationships. Specifically, Calix has longstanding partnerships with three manufacturing solutions providers: a five-year partnership with Jabil, an eight-year partnership with Gemtek, and a 10-year partnership with Hisense Broadband. The manufacturing services agreements between Calix and these providers reflect the following:

• Jabil will produce optical network terminals (ONTs) and optical line terminals (OLTs) in Michigan
• Gemtek will produce ONTs at its California facility
• Hisense Broadband will produce optical modules at its New Jersey facility

“Jabil is excited to join Calix in supporting the BEAD program while bridging the digital divide to bring critical broadband access to those who need it most,” said Jabil Executive Vice President of Operations Gerald “JJ” Creadon. “As a global manufacturing solutions provider, we have a presence in 30 countries and more than 100 facilities, yet Jabil was founded less than 30 miles from this state-of-the-art factory in Auburn Hills. We are extremely proud to ramp production of Calix’s industry-leading platforms here in Michigan, incorporating the latest automation and process technologies to accelerate the delivery of Calix’s industry-leading broadband-access equipment.”

Creadon joined leaders of the NTIA at the event, along with many Calix customers, including Robert Hance, President and CEO of Midwest Energy and Communications (MEC) in Cassopolis, Michigan.

“Midwest Energy and Communications has been committed to serving rural communities in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio for nearly a century,” said Hance. “From our founding as an electric cooperative in the 1930s, our mission has never changed: bringing essential services where no one else would meet the needs of the communities. That’s why we added fiber broadband services to our offerings eight years ago. This has resulted in tremendous investment into our region while enabling children, parents, and communities to thrive. Calix has always been an essential partner to MEC, enabling rural service providers like us to innovate through their software and cloud platform and systems at the fastest pace in the industry. We are thrilled that Calix is partnering with the NTIA to take the critical step to bring hardware manufacturing to the US while continuing their leadership as an American innovator. Thanks to this commitment, we are confident that we can lead the way in delivering new services that are essential to our communities.”

Calix will continue to partner with the NTIA, leading broadband associations, and state broadband offices to ensure that Calix products and solutions can be leveraged by customers across federal and state broadband programs such as BEAD. Once the NTIA issues final guidance on BABA, Calix will share additional details of its programs with industry associations and customers.

Learn more about the resources Calix makes available to customers related to broadband funding.

About Calix
Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)—Broadband service providers of all sizes leverage the Calix platform and teams to simplify their business and excite their subscribers to grow the value of their business and for their communities for generations. The democratizing power of the platform and portfolio of managed services enables them to operate efficiently, acquire subscribers, and deliver exceptional experiences. Calix is dedicated to driving continuous improvement in partnership with our growing ecosystem to support the transformation of our customers and their communities.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calix’s business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix’s results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov.

Calix and the Calix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Calix and/or its affiliates in the US and other countries. A listing of Calix’s trademarks can be found at https://www.calix.com/pages/trademarks.html. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Press Inquiries:
Alison Crisci
919-353-4323
alison.crisci@calix.com

Investor Inquiries:
Jim Fanucchi
investorrelations@calix.com